Impaling discharge assistant for denesting carrying frames for eggs



P 12, 1967 J. VAN DER SCHOOT 3,341,072

IMPAIJING DISCHARGE ASSISTANT FOR DENESTING CARRYING FRAMES FOR EGGS Filed Aug. 50, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. BY MMM 1 M M/ W Sept 12, 1967 J. VAN DER SCHOOT 3,341,072

IMPALING DISCHARGE ASSISTANT FOR DENESTING CARRYING FRAMES FOR EGGS Filed Aug. .30, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 %21/% m W f INVENTOR Sept. 12, 1967 J. VAN DER SCHOOT 3,341,072

IMPALING DISCHARGE ASSISTANT FOR DENESTING CARRYING FRAMES FOR EGGS F iled Aug. 30, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet a gum/4,44 M

W5 M/ m lam United States Patent ()fiice Claims The present invention relates to improvements in or relating to a method of and an apparatus for denesting carrying frames for eggs.

In packaging eggs use is often made of carrying frames or boxes having a bottom of papier-mach in the form of a carrying frame. Such carrying frames and the bottom section of the aforesaid boxes substantially consist of a flat body portion, with hollow protrusions extending upwardly and downwardly relative to said body portion, which together constitute accommodations for the eggs, said flat body portion having plane edges at at least two sides. They are sold in stacks, with the protrusions so firmly nested that the edges are spaced apart at short distances.

Seeing that the rough material of the nested protrusions exercises a material adhesive force, it is not easy to detach the nested carrying frames from one another. If this is done manually, it will be necessary to force a flat tool, such as a flat ruler or a crowbar, between the edges and to jerk a little bit, with the risk that the comparatively weak papier-mach will tear without the desired result being achieved.

It is even more ditficult to effect denesting mechanically. To this end several apparatuses have been tested, in which, generally, the same principle has been applied. These apparatuses were rather complicated and have not worked fully satisfactorily hitherto. It has particularly turned out to be difficult to detach each time only one and not more than one carrying frame from the stack. It is an object of this invention to provide a method which enables one to detach mechanically one carrying frame from a nested stack of such frames each time when the occasion requires this, and to pass it, likewise mechanically, to a machine for packaging eggs.

' To achieve this, according to the invention, a nested stack of carrying frames has at least some of the downwardly extending protrusions of the lowest frame placed on a flat table which is approximately in its uppermost position, and said lowest frame is caught at least some of its downwardly extending protrusions by gripper means mounted in said table, and subsequently a :plurality of wedge-shaped separating members, which are mounted for reciprocatory movement in a horizontal plane .at the required spacing above the plane of the table when this is in its uppermost position, are forced between the edges of the lowest frame of the stack and the lowest frame but one, whereafter the table is moved downwards, taking along the lowest frame held by the gripper means, while the remainder of the stack continues to rest on the separating members, and eventuallythe carrying frame taken along by the table is released by the gripper means, and the table goes down to below the level of (a) horizontal conveyor(s) on which the carrying frame comes to rest and by which it is delivered to the packaging machine, said table returning to its uppermost position and said separating members being retracted to lower the stack onto the table.

In accordance with this invention no jerking occurs adjacent the edges of the carrying frames to overcome the retaining friction of the nested protrusions in the center of the carrying frames. That friction is overcome 3,341,072 Patented Sept. 12, 1967 by gripper means likewise engaging the protrusions in the center of the lowest carrying frame of the stack. The separating members first fulfill the task of the lowest carrying frame but one and arrest the stack superimposed on that frame as the lowermost frame is taken downwards by the gripper means along with the table. A second task of the separting members is that, because of their wedge-shaped form, they already slightly detach the lowest frame and the frame but one from each other as much as possible. The accuracy of the operation of the separating members is promoted as a result of the fact that they are so mounted as to move to and fro within a plane which is spaced at a predetermined distance above the surfaces on which the stack rests, which spacing can be accurately adjusted to the height of the downwardly extending protrusions as measured from the upper side of the body portion and of its edges. It is a fixed spacing which is independent of the degree in which the nested and stacked carrying frames are pressed together.

The invention also relates to ing out this method.

One embodiment of the' invention will now be illustrated hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus according to the invention with the table in its uppermost position;

FIG. 2 is a section along the line IIII in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show one of the gripper means on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 5 is a section along the line VV in FIG. 1, with the table in its lowermost position;

FIG. 6 shows, on an enlarged scale, the operating mechanism of the gripper means, with the table in its uppermost position.

Referring to the drawings, a frame supported on the legs 1 is designated by 2. This frame comprises two guiding elements 3, each forming a vertical slot and together constituting a guide for a table 5 mounted for reciprocation relative to the frame 2 by means of carrying rollers 4.

The table 5 comprises two supporting members 6 which are carried adjacent each end by an end plate including a central portion 7 wherein the rollers 4 are mounted. The supporting members 6 are so positioned as to be adapted to carry a row of downwardly extending protrusions of a lowest carrying frame of a stack of such carrying frames, which stack is guided by upright guide bars 8 mounted on the element 3 to be prevented from lateral displacement.

Parallel to the supporting members 6 are mounted in the frame 2 two shafts 9 which each carry a bridge 12 by means of blocks 10 and substantially upright rods 11, on which bridge 12 wedge-shaped separating members 13 are provided. The length of the rods 11 has been so selected or can be so adjusted that the wedge-shaped separating members have their points accurately directed toward the interstices between the lowest carrying frame and the lowest frame but one of a stack of carrying frames 14 when this is placed on the supporting members 6, which are in their highest position, so that said separating members can be moved into said interstices by rotation of the shaft 9.

The two bridges 12 are interconnected by at least one tension spring 15. Besides each shaft 9 is provided with a lever 16 which carries at its end a follower roller 17, the object of which will as yet be described hereinafter.

Mounted at the top of the central portion 7 of the two end plates of the table 5 are, likewise parallel to the supporting members 6, two shafts 18 on each of which is mounted, by means of blocks 19 and 19', of which the an apparatus for carrylatter is made of rubber, a row of gripper means having sharp points which are directed towards the gripper means of the other set. The shafts 18 and the gripper means 20 mounted thereon are so positioned and measured that the gripper means, when being moved toward each other, have their points gripping one or a plurality of a downwardly extending protrusions of a carrying frame resting on the supporting members 6 so tightly as to be capable of exerting a force on the lowest carrying frame of a nested stack thus gripped upon a downward movement of the table 5, which is sufficient to separate said lowest carrying frame from the lowest frame but one, and thus from the stack, when this lowest carrying frame but one is arrested by the separating members.

Provided at at least one end of the shafts 12 are operating levers 21 having two arms of which one points upwards and the other downwards. The arms of the operating levers 21 pointing upwards are interconnected by a tension spring 22, and each carry a pin 23.

The pins 23 are adapted to be accommodated in a recess at the two ends of a tilting lever 24 likewise mounted in the central portion of an end plate of the table 5. At one end of said tilting lever such recess is found at the upper side thereof and at the other end of said tilting lever at the under side, the arrangement being such that a swinging of the tilting lever 24 about its centrally disposed axis causes the two pins 23 to be released simultaneously. The relative distance of the two recesses is such that with the pins 23 disposed therein the operating levers 21 and with them the gripper means 20 can be kept apart from each other against the action of the tension spring 22 in a position in which they do not engage any protrusion.

Mounted on the guiding element 3 is a pin 25 constituting an abutment by which the tilting lever 24 is arrested at the end of the upward movement of the table 5, as a result of which said tilting lever, against the action of the spring 39, performs a swinging movement which releases the pins 23 and causes the operating levers 21 to move toward each other through the spring 22, thus enabling the gripper means 20 to tightly engage the protrusions of a carrying frame. This inward movement of the operating levers 21 is defined by pins 26 provided on the tilting levers 24.

With the table 5 moving downwards, the downwardly pointing arms of the operating levers 21 go upwards along inclined guiding surfaces 27 which are fixedly connected to the frame 2, whereby said lower arms are urged inwardly and the upper arms, against the action of spring 22, outwardly, thus releasing the protrusions of a carrying frame which are held by the gripper means 20. This occurs just before the table 5 has reached its lowermost position and a carrying frame 14 supported on the support-- ing member 6 has come to rest on conveyors 28 which are movable on supporting beams 29 positioned horizontally and parallel to the supporting members 6.

The apparatus is operated by an electric motor 30, which may be so connected as to start when it receives an impulse from the packaging machine that a carrying frame to be denested by the apparatus and to be carried to the packaging machine is needed. The conveyors 28 are then driven by the motor 30 through the belt 31 and the pulley 32, and at the same time the main shaft 35 is set to rotation by means of gears 33, 34. The connection of the motor 30 may be such that it is automatically stopped when the main shaft 35 has made a complete turn.

Mounted on the main shaft 35 are two cam discs 36 which are adapted to co-operate with rollers 37 disposed in the central portion 7 of the end plates of the table 5 for moving said table up and down. Furthermore the main shaft 35 includes a cam disc 38 engaging the follower rollers 17 already referred to hereinbefore, for moving the separating members 13 away from each other against the action of the spring 15.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows.

A nested stack of carrying frames is placed between the guide bars 8, where they will rest on separating members 13 normally moved toward each other. Just before the table has reached its uppermost position the separating members 13 are retracted owing to the engagement between the cam 38 and the follower roller 17, as a result of which the stack continues to go down until it is carried by the supporting members 6. Subsequently, the tilting lever 24 is arrested by the fixedly disposed abutment 25, so that said lever 24, against the action of its spring 39, makes a little swing which releases the pins 23, thus causing the operating levers 21, their shafts 18 and the gripper means 20 provided thereon to swing inwardly under the action of the tension spring 24, as a result of which a centrally disposed row of downwardly extending protrusions of the lowest carrying frame of the stack 14 is firmly engaged by the gripper means 20. Substantially at the same time, or a moment later, the cam 38 has turned away from below the follower roller 17, so that the separating members 13, under the action of the tension spring 15, move inwardly again and are forced between the edges of the lowest and the lowest carrying frame but one. In consequence of the wedge shape of the separating members 13 the lowest and the lowest carrying frame but one will become somewhat detached, at any rate along their margins.

Subsequently, the table 5 moves downwards, taking along the lowest carrying frame which is supported on the supporting members 6 and held by the gripper means 20, with the lowest carrying frame but one and the stack resting thereon being left on the separating members 13. During the downward movement of the table the operating members 21 will go upwards along the fixedly disposed, inclined guiding surfaces 27, so that these members, their shafts 18 and the gripper means 20 are caused to swing against the action of the spring 22, as a result of which the protrusions, which are held by the gripper means, are released again and the carrying frame denested from the stack is loosely supported on the supporting members 6. When the upper arms of the operating levers 21 move outwardly, the pins 23 will snap into the recesses of the tilting levers 24, in which position they are retained by the spring 39.

As the table 5 is further lowered, the denested carrying frame will come to rest on the conveyors 28 which define the downward movement of the carrying frame and pass it (to the right, as shown in the drawing) to a delivery station 40 located outside the apparatus, where it is taken over by the packaging machine (not shown). The table will then complete its downward movement and subsequently its upward movement until, just before it will reach its uppermost position, the separating members 13 are retracted again and the stack goes down to rest with the carrying frame that has now become the lowest one on the supporting members 6.

If the packaging machine is not yet in need of a new supply of carrying frames, the apparatus may come to a standstill in this position until it is started again by a new impulse from the packaging machine, and the cycle is repeated.

Although this invention has been described in conjunction with a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for denesting each time one carrying frame for eggs from a nested stack of such frames of papier-mache and delivering same to a packaging machine, wherein each carrying frame substantially consists of a flat body portion with hollow protrusions extending upwardly and downwardly relative to said body portion, com-prising a frame, a pair of supporting members on said frame for stack moving vertically up and down relative to said frame, a plurality of wedge-shaped separating members mounted on said frame, means for moving said separating members between the edges of the lowest frame of the stack and the lowest frame but one when said supporting members are in uppermost position and releasing said separating members from said stack just before said supporting members again return to upper position, gripper means mounted on said supporting members, means for moving said gripper means toward each other in the uppermost position of said supporting members and away from each other in a lower position of said supporting members, a conveyor movable in a horizontal plane between the uppermost and the lowermost position of said supporting members, means for moving said gripper means synchronously with the movement of said supporting members to grip approxi mately the bottom central portion of the lowest frame, means for synchronously operating said various elements, two mutually parallel shafts connected to said supporting members on which said gripper means are mounted, operating levers having two arms fixed at one end of said shafts, a tension spring interconnecting said levers, and said frame having inclined guiding surfaces along which the lower arms of said two arms of said operating levers go upwards during the downward movement of said supporting members in order to move the upper arms of said two arms, and thus said gripper means, away from each other against the action of said tension spring, a member provided with recesses having shoulders which are adapted to catch pins mounted on the upper arm of each operating lever, in order to retain the upper arms of said levers, and thus said gripper means, in the spread condition against the action of said tension spring.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said member is constructed as a tilting lever having two arms mounted on said supporting members, said recesses being made in the respective arms of said tilting lever so that by a little swing of said tilting lever, they simultaneously release said pins mounted on said operating lever, said tilting lever being forced by a spring towards a position in which said pins are retained and, in the highest position of said supporting members, arrested by an abutment which causes it to swing against the action of said spring into a position in which said pins are released.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,330,639 2/1920 Leumann 221-298 2,589,600 3/1952 Burkholder 221-298 X 2,640,606 6/1953 Cox 221-211 X 2,899,988 8/ 1959 Stanley.

3,034,683 5/1962 Wilson 221-221 X 3,083,868 4/1963 Mueller 221-213 3,104,029 9/ 1963 Carkhufl'.

3,243,077 3/1966 Bliss et a1 221-251 X SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR DENESTING EACH TIME ONE CARRYING FRAME FOR EGGS FROM A NESTED STACK OF SUCH FRAMES OF PAPIER-MACHE AND DELIVERING SAME TO A PACKAGING MACHINE, WHEREIN EACH CARRYING FRAME SUBSTANTIALLY CONSISTS OF A FLAT BODY PORTION WITH HOLLOW PROTRUSIONS EXTENDING UPWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY RELATIVE TO SAID BODY PORTION, COMPRISING A FRAME, A PAIR OF SUPPORTING MEMBERS ON SAID FRAME FOR STACK MOVING VERTICALLY UP AND DOWN RELATIVE TO SAID FRAME, A PLURALITY OF WEDGE-SHAPED SEPARATING MEMBERS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID SEPARATING MEMBERS BETWEEN THE EDGES OF THE LOWEST FRAME OF THE STACK AND THE LOWEST FRAME BUT ONE WHEN SAIS SUPPORTING MEMBERS ARE IN UPPERMOST POSITION AND RELEASING SAID SEPARATING MEMBERS FROM SAID STACK JUST BEFORE SAID SUPPORTING MEMBERS AGAIN RETURN TO UPPER POSITION, GRIPPER MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORTING MEMBERS, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID GRIPPER MEANS TOWARD EACH OTHER IN THE UPPERMOST POSITION OF SAID SUPPORTING MEMBERS AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER IN A LOWER POSITION OF SAID SUPPORTING MEMBERS, A CONVEYOR MOVABLE IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE BETWEEN THE UPPERMOST AND THE LOWERMOST POSITION OF SAID SUPPORTING MEMBERS, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID GRIPPER MEANS SYNCHRONOUSLY WITH THE 